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GM $449 Million Investment Doubles Down on Chevy Volt, City of Detroit

2 beleaguered manufacturers — the Chevrolet Volt and the City of Detroit — will be leaning on every single other even far more as Standard Motors General Motors commits an additional $ 449 million to plants in Motown to make the second generation of GM’s plug-in hybrids and some other designs, as nicely as the lithium-ion batteries that energy the hybrids.

GM will invest $ 384 million to upgrade its Detroit-Hamtramck plant to develop the following generation of Volt, as nicely as the related Cadillac ELR and, for Europe and other nations, the Opel Ampera, Gerald Johnson, GM North America manufacturing vice president, told the Automotive Press Assocation in Detroit.

That’ll bring GM’s complete investment in the plant to a lot more than $ 1 billion over the last 5 many years. Johnson also vaguely promised some additional designs for the plant, which at present also assembles the Chevrolet Impala and Malibu.

Meanwhile, GM also will invest an extra $ 65 million at its Brownstown Battery Assembly plant in Detroit to support the up coming generation of its electrification technologies. Johnson mentioned GM prefers to “invest in [its] technologies to support” the subsequent edition of the plug-in hybrids rather than to get advantage of America’s existing overcapacity for lithium-ion battery output.

President Obama visits the GM plant in Detroit in 2010.

Johnson formally announced the investments in the firm of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

Duggan mentioned he was impressed that GM hadn’t requested any tax incentives from the city for its determination to more increase the plant that sits on an location once recognized as “Poletown” on the old border of Detroit with its largely Polish suburb, Hamtramck. “It’s usually great when they come in and have $ 384 million to invest and really don’;t ask for a [tax] abatement,” Duggan explained.

For his portion, Snyder touted the “strong track record of [GM] reinvesting in Michigan” and how the new investments underscore the truth that Detroit “is nonetheless the epicenter of the auto industry” in America.

In fact, Johnson pointed out that GM has announced about $ 2.8 billion in manufacturing and technologies investments in Michigan facilities since 2009 and a total of $ 5.4 billion complete in the United States, most of it in the Midwest.

Volt sales have remained disappointing because mainstream U.S. consumers just haven’t embraced the car regardless of the large levels of fulfillment with the motor vehicle that are expressed by Volt owners and the truth that, with an on-board gasoline engine, Volt doesn’t saddle owners with the “range anxiety” that is a problem for owners of all-electrical automobiles who fear about working out of electrical power and becoming stranded.

GM executives have substantial hopes for the Cadillac model of basically the identical automobile, ELR, especially after the spectacular achievement of the all-electrical Tesla Model S with substantial-end vehicle consumers. ELR just went on sale in the first quarter.